Ohio State running back Carlos Hyde continues to make up for lost ground, last night delivering his third straight game of more than 100 yards rushing.

In fact, the senior running back — suspended the first three games of the season — had 130 yards by halftime against Penn State. And he had scored two touchdowns as the No. 4 Buckeyes jumped to a 42-7 halftime lead.

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Hyde capped the opening drive with a 2-yard scoring run. And he cruised through a huge hole over the left side, opened by Jack Mewhort, Andrew Norwell and others, to run untouched 39 yards to his second TD, putting OSU up 35-7 with 3:16 left in the second quarter.

In the previous two wins, over Northwestern and Iowa, Hyde ran for a total of 317 yards and five touchdowns.

Mind on the present

Coach Urban Meyer stood up for his team’s chances of making the Bowl Championship Series title game in an interview with former OSU running back Eddie George on Fox Sports1 yesterday morning.

The Buckeyes were No. 4 in the first BCS ratings released last week and have been maligned for playing a perceived soft schedule and being in the lightly regarded Big Ten.

“Like every team, including the top few — you know, they’re not perfect,” Meyer said, referring to No.1 Alabama, No. 2 Florida State and No. 3 Oregon. “We might not be as sexy as some of the other ones right now, but we win games.”

Asked by George whether he’ll be upset if the Buckeyes pull off a second straight unbeaten season but are left out of the BCS title game, Meyer deferred.

“I’m going to try not to even answer that and move on because we’re not there yet,” Meyer said. “I think I’ll have a response, and so will a lot of people, if we get to that point.”

But he referred to his 2006 season at Florida, when his Gators had to fight their way back into the national-championship picture, finally gaining the spot against Ohio State after beating Alabama in the Southeastern Conference title game. The Gators went on to beat the Buckeyes 41-14.

Taking another bow

Former Ohio State left tackle Orlando Pace, the two-time Lombardi Award winner and Outland Trophy winner, was introduced between the first and second quarters last night. It was in recognition of his being elected to the 2013 College Football Hall of Fame class.

“To be back in the stadium — as I was walking to the stadium I felt like I did, I hate to say this, almost 20 years ago,” said Pace, who played at OSU from 1994-96 before leaving for the NFL draft, in which he was the No. 1 overall pick in ’97. “The fans, the electricity, everything that comes along with it, man, I think I can go out there and give them like a series or two.”

Pace, now a businessman in the St. Louis area, where he had a five-time All-Pro career for the Rams, was in Ohio Stadium two years ago for a similar ceremony after he was added to the school’s hall of fame. He might be in line for another such bow in the near future — he becomes eligible for consideration to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015.

Hackenberg out

Penn State freshman quarterback Christian Hackenberg suffered a right shoulder injury midway through the third quarter. A team trainer wrapped Hackenberg’s arm and shoulder after Hackenberg came off the field with 9:37 to play in the quarter following a lost fumble by running back Zach Zwinak.

He was replaced by Tyler Ferguson. Hackenberg was seen flexing his right hand as he warmed up before the second half.